Stashed inside the midnight-cherry Roadster was a mysterious, small object designed to last for millions (perhaps billions) of years – even in extreme environments like space, or on the distant surfaces of far-flung planetary bodies.

Called an Arch (pronounced 'Ark'), this tiny storage device is built for long-term data archiving, holding libraries of information encoded on a small disc of quartz crystal, not much larger than a coin.

According to Arch Mission Foundation, the California-based nonprofit behind the technology, these Archs could "preserve and disseminate humanity's knowledge across time and space, for the benefit of future generations". . .

Quotemikebw
Very cool, but kind of old news for anyone who watched the whole launch.

Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

Quoteneophyte
Too bad its PATA interface won't connect to any know port that the aliens who find it have.

I was wondering what kind of hardware and software would be required to read this recording. That's the Achilles heel of all digital archival media. Even if the media survive, the devices to read them become obsolete.

QuoteMichael
I wonder if an extraterrestrial who receives the Ark will destroy it as spam or a weapon?

Apparently, there are scientists who think that messages that we receive from extraterrestrials might have to be destroyed to prevent the end of humanity: [arxiv.org]

Here's an interesting quote from the piece: "After all, it is cheaper for ETI to send a malicious message to eradicate humans than to send battleships."

(I ran into this following links from the ScienceAlert site that mrlynn posted).

That is rather thought provoking indeed. What then is the purpose for our search for ETI then, if all we intend to do is destroy any messages we receive? Is it simply to know that there is something out there?

I think we are far too curious to not attempt to read any communications, despite the possible dangers outlined in that piece. It may be our downfall, but I think it would be better than living with an attitude of Nobody can kill the humans except the humans! which seems to be going quite well for us.

QuoteMichael
I wonder if an extraterrestrial who receives the Ark will destroy it as spam or a weapon?

Apparently, there are scientists who think that messages that we receive from extraterrestrials might have to be destroyed to prevent the end of humanity: [arxiv.org]

Here's an interesting quote from the piece: "After all, it is cheaper for ETI to send a malicious message to eradicate humans than to send battleships."

(I ran into this following links from the ScienceAlert site that mrlynn posted).

That is rather thought provoking indeed. What then is the purpose for our search for ETI then, if all we intend to do is destroy any messages we receive? Is it simply to know that there is something out there?

I think we are far too curious to not attempt to read any communications, despite the possible dangers outlined in that piece. It may be our downfall, but I think it would be better than living with an attitude of Nobody can kill the humans except the humans! which seems to be going quite well for us.

Actually, as with the majority of human-contrived malware, the danger from an ETI message that Hibbke and Learned (in that paper) identify depends on human failings, not technical ones. They propose scenarios in which guards are fooled or pressured into releasing the threat to humanity. But this presupposes an alien knowledge of human nature, culture, and foibles that no beings living at interstellar distances would be likely to have (not to mention knowledge of the limitations of presumably inferior human computer programming skills).

True, likelihood is not certainty, and the authors also presuppose a message containing an artificial intelligence (AI), which can learn our languages (oral, written, constructed), and then maybe our culture(s) and biological nature (read: emotions) that would enable the AI to exploit our failings. But how is this amazing AI going to run on our primitive machines? The aliens would need to send a physical probe with their AI built in. That's a different kettle of fish from an electromagnetic signal of some sort.

But wait, you say: The AI encapsulated in the human-readable ETI message could convince humans to help it build physical media (computers, robots, nanobots, whatever) that would then proceed to take over the Earth. But again, that depends not only the AI learning enough about humanity to pursue such a plan, but aliens on a remote star system knowing enough to program the AI to appreciate and understand what it learns.

Nothing is impossible, but what are the odds? How could, say, ant-like creatures spreading their hives over the galaxy, building spaceships and other devices much as Earthly termites build their apartments, ever anticipate the vagaries of human thought, emotion, and interaction? Not of course that the ant-like ETIs would pursue such an AI strategy, over the more direct one of simple invasion.

To reverse the speculation, imagine that we wanted to destroy and take over a planet circling a distant star. But without knowing who, or what, inhabits it, how would we proceed? Well, we'd have to do a lot of scouting, and then decide. Barring the FTL hyperdrive, or intersplit, that's a very long-term proposition. If we do ever receive ETI messages, most likely they will not be destructive—but they might be spies!

A bigger worry could be alien microbes, but that's a story for another day.

Quotemrlynn
But this presupposes an alien knowledge of human nature, culture, and foibles that no beings living at interstellar distances would be likely to have (not to mention knowledge of the limitations of presumably inferior human computer programming skills).
/Mr Lynn

Well, anyone within 100 light years or so would have potential access to the broadcast radio and TV signals we have been pumping out, so that might be enough background info to at least get started.

A truly advanced civilization would realize that humans are no threat and would just wait a few more generations until we have all died out.